Can spring sports really be this close?
With the CIF's winter season sports beginning the stretch drive with playoffs in basketball, soccer, girls water polo and wrestling opening this week, the spring sports are pushing for some of the limelight.
Here's a list of area teams included in the preseason polls for baseball, softball and boys volleyball:
In baseball, Division III, defending Suburban League champion La Mirada is No. 3 and California is No. 6.
In Division V, defending champ Cantwell Sacred Heart of Mary is No. 3 and St. Paul is No. 5.
In Softball, perennial Del Rio League contenders California and La Serna are ranked Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, while in Division IV, St. Paul is No. 10.
Cantwell is No. 6 in Division VI.
Only one local program cracked a Top 10 ranking in boys volleyball, with La Serna at No. 6 in Division III, and Montebello among others receiving votes in the division.
Any idea which teams would comprise the Daily News area's top five in baseball and softball?
And why? (Briefly, please, briefly.)
17 Comments
Leave a comment
About this blog
Roger Murray is the prep sports editor for the Whittier Daily News.
Cal High is ranked #6 because of how they finished last year (same with La Mirada). Both teams lost alot of seniors.La Mirada lost all of there pitchers and Cal high only returns one pitcher who was 2nd team all-cif and that was a joke. He wasn't better than Villobos or Burke. I heard that LS has two pitchers(Burke and Soto) that throw in the upper eighties and Burke is consistanly between 85-90 mph. When was the last time that two pitchers on the same team had those kinds of arms? In a three game series, good luck! Those two coach's are good, and with a little luck and staying healthly, LS has a chance to be really good.
How did the locals do today? La Serna lost 2-1 against #3D1 Los Alamitos. LS pitchers struck out 9 and gave up only four hits, and LS had many more chances to score than Los Al. In the second game, the Lancers beat perenial Riverside D1 power Arlington, 3-2. Pitching and good defense dominated both sides in each game, but LS showed they can compete with anyone.
Heard Cal beat Bishop Amat. Great job, Cal. Sonora was beaten 5-1 and tied 4-4 with Cypress.
The point is, a lot of the stuff you hear about D1 powerhouse teams is hype; our local guys are just as good as the OC guys and the big name schools' guys. D1 teams may be deeper at some schools, or throw a bit harder, but Cal, LS, ER, Sonora, LM can man up with any teams out there on a given day. Cal showed that last year by beating heavily favored teams in CIF.
Good baseball in the Whittier area.
How did some of the other teams do?
Cal got hot and won some in CIF, yes. But LS beat them 2 of 3, then lost by one in the game they lost. Liebert is decent pitcher, but check his stats from last year- high ERA and so-so record. Didn't deserve All CIF second team. Burke and Villalobos were better last year than him. Nieto must have really sold him to the other coaches.
Cal will be a good team, they have some good kids back, but we'll see if they can beat ER and LS. And I bet I've seen more games played by all of the schools in the area, than Mr. Udon't want to know. Not being a homer- just know the local kids pretty well, having watched them for years.
well if anyone hasn't noticed cal is ranked 6th division 3! ya thats right 6! where is ER? where is LS? o ya thats right there not ranked! ER a first round knock out like always and LS could'nt even make it to playoffs! and cal's decent left handed pitcher you know the del rio league pitcher of the year,2nd team all-cif, 2nd team all- area! ya he'll be ready! and if anyone else didnt notice that cal is bringing back their 2 top hitters and both middle infielders! the Del Rio league better watch out! the people that leave this messages have no idea whats going on!
Oh...spring is in the air. The fields are green and the air is gray (some days at least).
ER, LS and Cal should be the Del Rio race. SP will continue to great players and win. Players who don't like thier intended school and go to Sonora and help them win. LH may surprise people. LM will find ways to win too.
Grades should be out and lets see who is out. I have heard of a few.
Go Baseball....and don't forget about Biola, Rio Hondo and Whittier College baseball.
Let the rain help the grass and the water supply, but not cancel the first games of the year.
Hey Berto:
It must have been those Coaches who came over from Montebello to Whittier Pony & scared Bolderman away !!! ha ha ha lol.
Go Rangers !!!!
Roberto is right about Sonora. A powerhouse D4 program for sure. Kids from all over go there specifically to play for Tellers. What I appreciate is how well Whittier PONY is represented on that team, as well as La Serna and Cal. Several played in the Bronco World Series as 12 year olds. They've had good coaching from ex-college players, played in competitive rec leagues, and played hundreds of games of the highest level travel ball- winning a high percentage of them. The Whittier/La Habra/La Mirada area has produced many good players in recent years and it is due to these great local youth leagues and the growth of travel ball back in the late 90's and early 2000's. We're seeing the fruits of those years right now.
High school baseball has never been beter than right now. Expect good seasons from Sonora, La Serna and other local teams this year.
i am curious, who is the Cal Hi girls softball coach for this 2008 season?
The Best Baseball team in the area is at Sonora High School. They never get talked about in the Whittier daily news , They are ranked 7th in division 4 and player for player are the best team in the area!! And will be ranked in the top 10 in orange county, like they were last year. They have good hitters threw the line up with Daniel Gonzales in the line up they have more power and a RBI guy that is real scary at the plate.Pitcher JJ Cacioppo coming back for his senior year ,JJ had a era last year of 0.87 and was undefeated in league last year. The Raiders will win over 20 games this year should be ranked #1 in division 4 by the time CIF playoff come around, just like last year. This year team is way better then last year's team and they have the killer instinct that last year team did not have. Look out for the Raiders.
Im sure the pre season poll was based on the playoffs from last year. Cal lost ALOT of players from last years team, so there will be quite a bit of inexperience on the varsity team. It will go:
El Rancho
La Serna
California
Whittier
Santa Fe
Pioneer
why isnt el rancho ranked with all those returning players and newcomer marcus aldecoa.I guess murray isnt the only one the hates on e.r.
St. Paul's pitching will be much better this year with Willson and Encinas in the rotation with Santoyo. Look for Andrew Chico to have a huge year.
El Rancho will be the favorites in Baseball, and deservingly so since they are the defending champs. But look out for La Serna, with a new head coach, La Serna will be highly competitive, and also be the premier program for years to come.
Top teams:
ER should be pretty good with Villalobos and their best hitter back.
La Mirada is down, but should still be pretty good.
Cal Hi has a decent lefty pitcher and some good players back from last year's team that got hot at the right time.
St. Paul is on the rise with lots of decent young players.
La Serna has an energetic new coach in Anthony Gonzales and return Soto and juniors Burke, Langstaff, Montoya and Sanchez from last year's underachieving team. They will surprise.
As of now I will reserve any comment about this ER Football situation. From what I know Louie Z is still part of the staff. We will see what happens.
Go Ranch!!!
Hey elrancho, and LAPreps
Whats going on with ER football. I heard that Parsons has let go of Joe L., Louie Z., Tony G., Frank V., Bob B., Parson wants to call the offence himself, he also picked up a new OL coach. So were does that leave Aldecoa,Joe protected him from the rest of the staff last year, when they wanted him out.
El Rancho should be the #1 team in the area, they return almost everyone from last years Del Rio League Championship team. Marcus Aldecoa should give this team a huge boost.